4. 9 Months Later

It was the weekend and Alice wanted to go shopping. I insisted on going and Jasper decided to come too. Bella had been staying at the house for a couple of nights and was going to stay here until the wedding, which was the day after tomorrow. We went to a mall in Tacoma. We’d been there for a few hours when Alice hid her thoughts.

“Jasper why don’t you and Edward go off somewhere else; Bella and I have some personal shopping to do.”

She was blocking me out, but the look she gave me said ‘just go’. Bella was about to argue when Alice pulled her away. I looked at Jasper.

“Do you have any idea what that was about?”

“Well, Alice said ‘personal shopping’ and the wedding is a few days; my guess would be Victoria’s Secret. Alice said something about lingerie on the way up here.”

I didn’t know how to react to that. Jasper laughed.

“Come on. Let’s go find a place to kill some time. Knowing Alice, this will take forever, and Bella isn’t likely to cooperate for the first 30 minutes.”

We walked of in a different direction than the girls and began looking at shop names.

Bella’s POV

I had no clue where we were going. All of the sudden, Alice pulled me into a store. I looked at the name; Victoria’s Secret.

“No. No, Alice.”

“Why not? This is part of my wedding present to you. Don’t make me force you to buy lingerie.”

“Why do I need lingerie?”

“The wedding night.”

I could tell there was no point in arguing, instead I looked around.

“Thank you. Your cooperation makes things much easier.”

I looked at the different designs. I knew that I would get something blue; Edward said he liked that color on me.

“I think I’ll get this one for me!”

Alice was holding up a red silky lingerie dress. It was short and low-cut.

“I’m sure Jasper will love it.”

She gave a devilish smile.

“He will.”

I shook my head and that’s when I saw it. It was dark blue and practically see-through. It was held together by a light blue piece of ribbon that was laced up the front of the top. The bottoms were the same color as the top and just as see-through. Surprisingly, I could see myself in it. I found one in my size and showed it to Alice. She smiled and nodded.

“Perfect. Let’s get these and go find our boys.”

We found Edward and Jasper in a bookstore. Jasper was holding a book and showing a certain part to Edward.

“I’m going to get this book series.”

“Since when do you read vampire stories? I thought legends annoyed you.”

“They do but this is funny.”

“What is that series called?”

“The Vampire Kisses series; I’m going to buy this.”

Alice and I laughed. They looked at us.

“I can’t believe you got finished so quickly.”

“Bella decided to cooperate.”

“The next time you say shopping I’ll know to ask what we’re shopping for. It wasn’t that bad. That store isn’t exactly my favorite, but it’s not the worst one.”

Edward’s POV

I smiled. I hadn’t thought much about the wedding night. I knew that the day after tomorrow would be the happiest day of my life. My sweet Bella would be mine for all of eternity and there was nothing anyone could do about it; I wouldn’t let anything separate us. I loved her too much. We looked around the bookstore a little longer. I looked at the books that Jasper was getting. The main character was a girl named Raven. She ended up falling in love with a vampire named Alexander Sterling. I could see why Jasper thought it was funny. She asks to become a vampire; he refuses. All of this spanned over four books. They love each other, though. I could see the similarities in situations, but in this story all the legends applied; the sun, garlic, sleeping in coffins, everything. I shook my head. Emmett would get a kick out of this. I handed the book back to Jasper.

“Are we done shopping yet?”

“Yes.”

“Finally.”

We left the mall and headed home. During the drive, Bella and I talked about graduation and the wedding. Before I knew it I was pulling onto the driveway and we were home. I would miss this house when we left. Jasper and Alice were making out on the living room couch when we walked in. I liked their idea so I scooped Bella up in my arms and ran to my room. We kissed. I had put a bed in my room for the nights that Bella slept over and we sat down on it. I pulled Bella close to me and kissed her again. I knew I was letting myself get carried away but I didn’t care. I was in control of the monster; that was all that mattered. I was minding my actions so I wouldn’t hurt her. I loved her. I wanted her. I broke away to let her breathe.

Bella’s POV

Edward usually didn’t kiss me like that.

“What brought this on?”

“I love you, my beautiful angel.”

Whatever was behind this, I wasn’t arguing. He kissed me again. This time he picked me up, moved to the center of the bed and rolled me on top of him. I didn’t mind that at all. He rolled again and this time he was on top of me; even better. When he broke away, his lips moved to my neck. My breath caught and he looked at me. We stared into each others’ eyes. I could see every emotion that passed through his expression; love, desire, passion, lust. I could see it all in his eyes and the way he looked me up and down. His control was slipping, but it wasn’t the kind of control that kept him from drinking my blood. It was the control that kept the lines of our physical boundaries in firm place. I could practically see those lines blurring and fading. His eyes smoldered and burned into mine but I didn’t dare look away. He leaned down to kiss me again and I could tell that those lines were gone. I reached for the buttons on his shirt and undid them one by one. When I had finished he took the shirt completely off. He undid the buttons on my within the same second and rolled me on top of him so I could finish taking it off. His bare skin was cold against mine. Just as his lips were trailing down my neck, there was a knock at the door.

“Go away, Alice,” he ordered.

“It can wait until the wedding night.”

“Alice, if you don’t get away from that door, I will make you.”

“A group of vampires is going to be here in five minutes. They don’t pose threat to any of us, not even Bella.”

I sighed and put my shirt back on. Edward already had his on. We walked out of the room and I glared at Alice. She smiled.